As mentioned in another thread, a similar post on reddit yielded some pretty god-awful responses to this question. So, in order to bring this topic to a group of people who have opinions that actually count, and to do my part to get this board moving again, let's make a list. And Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt" doesn't count because that's always the obvious answer.

And one other note that the redditors didn't seem to appreciate: Cover songs that are better than the original, not just "good cover songs."

Agreed! And I still quite love Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah." With absolutely no irony, however, I think Mike Patton's cover (live only?) of Herb Alpert's "This Guy's in Love with You" is splendid. Oh, and The Tourists' version of "I Only Want to Be with You."

Nirvana - Molly's Lips (although I do love the Vaselines' original as well)Beastie Boys - Time for Living (Sly's original is kinda boring)Elvis Presley - Tomorrow is a Long Time (Dylan's original is good, but apparently Elvis only heard Odetta's version)